Azerbaijan holds a snap presidential election on Wednesday boycotted by the opposition and expected to extend the autocratic rule of President Ilham Aliyev
Zoroastrianism in Azerbaijan
Due to the abundance of natural flames coming from the energy-rich nation’s huge underground gas deposits, Azerbaijanis call their country “The Land of Fire.” The expression is rooted in Zoroastrianism, a fire-worshipping religion that dominated the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan before it adopted Shia Islam
The pentagonal castle-like Baku Temple of Fire had an altar with eternal fire that was fed by underground gas coming to surface and lit up due to the contact with oxygen, according to AFP. A red flame features at the centrepiece of Azerbaijan’s state emblem
1.5 million-year-old cave
One of the country’s most important landmarks, the imposing Azix Magarasi six-cave complex, is located on the territory of Nagorny Karabakh which has been under Armenian control since it was seized during a bloody conflict in the early 1990s after the break up of the Soviet Union. The caves are considered by archaeologists to be one of the oldest living sites of prehistoric humans in Eurasia, dating back 1.5 million years
The intelligent red-golden horse
Azerbaijan’s national animal, the Karabakh horse, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding breed noted for its speed, intelligence and red-golden colour. Thanks to their suppleness, the Karabakhs are ideal mount for Azerbaijan’s national sport, chovgan, a polo-like horse-riding game played on a flat, grassy field by two competing teams. One of the world’s oldest, the breed currently numbers below 1,000 and is threatened with extinction
Democracy or monarchy?
According to the Azerbaijani constitution, the country is a democratic republic, but in fact it is for over three decades ruled with an iron fist by uncrowned monarchs—a family which, critics say, has crushed the opposition and used their power to amass a fortune that funds its lavish lifestyle